Skip to main content
Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – Dress for the part

Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – Dress for the part

‘I should be able to wear what I want and not be judged’ said one participant on a training course I was running. I agreed with her, particularly the word ‘should’, but I had to point out that people do attach significance to what we wear, even though ideally that should not happen. Our clothing is part of nonverbal communication. Whether we intend it or not, whether we agree with it or not, what we wear provides information about us that other people will generally attach significance to. For example, you may be highly committed to a job you are applying for, but if you turn up for the interview wearing jeans and a T-shirt, it is highly likely you…
Dr Neil Thompson
June 23, 2020
Study suggests need for UK employers to offer employee mental wellbeing support

Study suggests need for UK employers to offer employee mental wellbeing support

A survey of 2,000 UK consumers by digital health company BioBeats suggests that nearly a quarter (21 percent) of UK employees say that their mental health will be negatively impacted by extending remote working measures post-lockdown. Only 5 percent of respondents state that their mental health will improve as a result of extended remote working but alarmingly only 3 percent say they would ask for help in coping with this new way of working, which presents a striking gap between employees’ needs and their ability to seek support from their employer. Click here to read more
Dr Neil Thompson
June 23, 2020
Advice on supporting each other at work following the death of a colleague

Advice on supporting each other at work following the death of a colleague

The realities of Covid-19 means that there are additional challenges for people mourning the death of a colleague due to the lack of access to support from friends, family and colleagues. The British Psychological Society’s Covid-19 bereavement task force has launched a new document, ‘Supporting each other following the death of a colleague’, to help people understand their feelings and reaction if they do lose a colleague during this time. Professor Nichola Rooney, chair of the task force, said: “Sadly, many people have been bereaved during the Covid-19 pandemic, with some grieving the death of a colleague. We spend a lot of time at work and often form close bonds with people we work with, so losing a colleague at…
Dr Neil Thompson
June 23, 2020
Seth Godin’s blog – The dominant culture

Seth Godin’s blog – The dominant culture

One of the great cartoons involves two goldfish in a tank talking to one another. One responds in surprise, “wait, there’s water?” When we don’t see the water, it’s a sign we’re benefitting from being part of the dominant culture. And since we’re not fish, we can learn to see the water and figure out how it is affecting us and the people around us. Visit a country where they don’t speak English and you’ll probably remind yourself all day that you speak English, something you didn’t have to think about last week. You’ll have to work overtime to understand and communicate. Back home, that stress disappears. Click here to read more
Dr Neil Thompson
June 23, 2020
Neil Thompson’s Lessons for Living – Look for reasons not causes

Neil Thompson’s Lessons for Living – Look for reasons not causes

People commonly talk about what causes a particular behaviour or reaction. However, as it is people we are talking about, it makes more sense to talk about reasons, rather than causes. Human beings exist in a social context that is very powerful in its wide range of influences and we are, of course, subject to certain biological forces and constraints. But none of this removes human ‘agency’, to use the technical term, the ability to make choices. If we are looking for causes not reasons, we can be neglecting some key aspects of how a situation arose or how it is likely to unfold. Of course, it would be naïve not to recognize that we do not have complete control…
Dr Neil Thompson
June 9, 2020
50 Women for 50 Years project

50 Women for 50 Years project

The 50 women for 50 years project aims to share the stories of 50 women from a diverse range of sectors, backgrounds, age and experiences to highlight the ongoing challenges facing women in work, opportunities and pay. Friday 29th May 2020 marks 50 years since the passage of the Equal Pay Act 1970; the landmark legislation which made equal pay for equal work a legal right for all. But 50 years on, pay inequality is still rife and the vast majority of UK companies still pay women less on average. Equal pay is possible, but we need your help to make the legislation a reality for women across the UK. Find out what you can to do support The Equality…
Dr Neil Thompson
June 9, 2020
Making up with the Joneses: How Covid-19 has brought neighbours closer

Making up with the Joneses: How Covid-19 has brought neighbours closer

In the 10 years he has lived in his house in Wavertree in Liverpool, Greg Schofield is not sure he had ever gone into the alleyway behind his rear garden, an unlovely strip of weed-strewn cobbles where some neighbours kept their bins. Though he and his wife are close to their immediate neighbours on one side, there were only two other families in the street they knew to say hello to. Come lockdown, however, something changed. Someone set up a WhatsApp group and a couple of neighbours asked if anyone was up for tidying the alley. After most of the 14 households in the block turned up, each clearing their immediate patch, “It got people quite excited,” says Schofield. “People…
Dr Neil Thompson
June 9, 2020